I personally think the question is skewed much the same way as asking if
someone prefers "Ford" or "Chevy". Or "North American" vehicles vs
"Imported" vehicles. In a lot of cases, the choice is not the user's to
make - it is whatever they can get (i.e. what comes with the distro they
are running). The "common" folks who use Linux may not even know there
is an option so never change the default desktop environment.
Gnome has come a long ways in the past few years. But I still run KDE.
Do I prefer either though? Not really. Not long ago I would have
said that KDE was MUCH better and explained why in detail. But my
needs/experiences have matured some, and now I don't really care what is
on the box - as long as I can get my work done.
One of the hidden secrets the question totally misses is that you can
run KDE based applications within a Gnome environment. Or Gnome based
apps in a KDE environment. Or either KDE or Gnome based apps in a
totally different environment (XFCE, Enlightenment, Blackbox, etc.). So
my take on things has shifted away from what desktop environment do I
prefer, to what applications do I prefer.
For example, the only graphical text editor I'll use (when I have a
choice) is Kate - a KDE app. I find it SOOO much better than the basic
text editor that Gnome has. Not to mention it fits my coding habits
nicely. For CD/DVD burning, I'll use K3B - also a KDE app, simply
because it fits my way of thinking, and I find the Gnome alternatives
too limiting. (To be fair, there is the comfort thing with an already
known application to consider...) But I'll also use Firefox or Inkscape
- both being a GTK based app. (GTK being mostly independent, but with
better visual integration through Gnome...). GTK, Gnome, or KDE based
apps all run fine in alternate desktop environments.
So, I use what ever happens to be installed on the box I'm running. My
desktop usually runs KDE, while my laptop runs whatever I felt like
installing the last time I decided to reinstall it (Ubuntu or Kubuntu
usually).
In short, I don't notice the desktop environment anymore, and focus on
the apps I need. Anybody who swears "their way" is better, is trying to
sell you something, or reinforce their confidence in their choices. The
latter is how religious wars (or just flame wars) get started...
My thoughts, not yours.
Shawn
: robert-william : lewko wrote:
Guys, I just saw a comment on lwn.net. The author was talking about a
function specific to okular (a KDE application) and one of the people
posting a comment said "If KDE wants to survive in a GNOME world they
better stop making fool decisions."
What I wonder is this. Is Gnome the majority that this person
commenting says it is? When I do an informal pole of the people I
know who use Linux I probably have 5 friends who are solidly KDE, 1
that uses Gnome and sometimes uses KDE applications and 1 that uses
Enlightenment and couldn't care less about having anything more
elaborate.
IE, is this person who has posted a comment to this article really
based in reality? Is Gnome more popular?
_______________________________________________
clug-talk mailing list
[email protected]
http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca
Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php)
**Please remove these lines when replying
_______________________________________________
clug-talk mailing list
[email protected]
http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca
Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php)
**Please remove these lines when replying
